Discover the Workflow Management System that will help you effectively manage your remote team
Clint Eastwood's latest film, Juror #2, is like an upside-down version of the classic '12 Angry Men' in that it depicts a lone juror who seeks to lead the rest of the jury away from the truth, rather than towards it.
This year's RTO (Return to Office) edicts from certain CEOs demanding that their staff cease hybrid working feel somewhat similar. The jury(i.e. us) have reached their verdict that flexible and hybrid working are good things but a small number of people are still trying to convince us that we're wrong.
It is true that flexible working has been a benefit to certain groups in particular. Women, parents, the young and the neurodiverse have all benefitted from flexibility that enables work-life balance, cost-saving and customising of one's work environment to specific cognitive preferences.
Remote Work Employee Benefits
However, opposition to work flexibility also seems an odd position to take when one looks at the broader evidence about the impact of flexible working; e.g.
- Microsoft’s Work Trend Index (2024) found that 73% of employees wanted flexible remote work options that were prompted by Covid to continue, and 54% felt better work-life balance due to flexible working.
- The Global Workforce Study by Gallup (2022) found that employees with flexibility in their work schedule were 43% more likely to report being"engaged" at work compared to those with rigid schedules, suggesting a significant increase in overall satisfaction and happiness with flexible working arrangements.
- The UK's first pilot of a 4 day week in 70 companies across various industries found multiple positive outcomes for both companies and staff and concluded the executive summary of its findings by stating that,"15% of employees said that no amount of money would induce them to accept a five-day schedule over the four-day week to which they were now accustomed."
If happiness and engagement feels, for some, too fluffy a type of evidence to judge the benefits of flexible working, then it might be helpful to highlight how flexible working affects the bottom line. The data from a 4-day week pilot in South Cambridge council, for example, found that turnover decreased by 39%, resulting in estimated recruitment savings of 317,500 in a year.
Alternatively, just as more people wanting to join and stick around in your company has a clearer cost impact, so does more of your staff actually being at work. According to Harvard Business Review, employees in hybrid work environments report lower stress levels, less burnout and better mental health compared to those in fully office-based roles, a finding which is echoed in the UK 4 day week pilot which reported 39% of employees being less stressed and 71% having lower levels of burnout.
And, critically, thus far there has been little evidence in these studies of a productivity downside to flexible and hybrid working. The Microsoft report cited above stated that 61% of employees felt more productive in hybrid work environments and even when people flex their work around personal commitments in office hours, there is little evidence to suggest anything other than that they not only compensate for the lost time but often overcompensate. Simply put, people working longer hours is a problem that has been seen more than skiving (the latter being the unspoken fear of many managers).
The Issue Executives see with Remote Teams
And yet.. despite all this evidence, some bosses still don't get it. In 2023, according to a KPMG CEO report, 68% of bosses, with figures such as Alan Sugar, Elon Musk and Jacob Rees-Mogg in the vanguard, expected a full return to the office within 3 years. This year that stat has increased to 83%.
This is echoed in the summary of the Microsoft study above which concludes that people are working more than ever but managers simply don't believe it because they can't see it;
"Many leaders and managers are missing the old visual cues of what it means to be productive because they can’t “see” who is hard at work by walking down the hall or past the conference room. Indeed, compared to in-person managers, hybrid managers are more likely to say they struggle to trust their employees to do their best work (49% vs. 36%) and report that they have less visibility into the work their employees do (54% vs. 38%). And as employees feel the pressure to “prove” they’re working, digital overwhelm is soaring."
A Solution for Effective Remote Team Management
If you're still reading, then you're probably not Alan Sugar, ElonMusk or Jacob Rees-Mogg. You're more likely to be a team member feeling the pressure to prove that you're working when you're not in the office, or a manager of others feeling uncomfortable because you're not sure what your team are doing.
If this is the case, then the good news is that the Getting ThingsDone (GTD)® methodology can help because it makes work visible, not just to you but also to others, if needed.
When you have a clear and complete inventory of your commitments ina trusted GTD system, you can give others clarity. Your next action lists make it clear what you’re going to be doing in the next little while. Your agendas lists make it clear who you’re liaising with, and what about. Your projects list makes it clear what you’re working towards. Your waiting for list makes it clear where there might be sticking points. Your higher horizons make it clear that everything’s aligned. The GTD Weekly Review drives regular updates.
GTD provides evidence of the work that’s being done even when you can’t directly see it being done. In other words, it provides evidence of what is getting done to alleviate any discomfort that others might feel about how it’s getting done.
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